Trump mauled by Dott

A horribly out-of-sorts Judd Trump bowed out of the Betfair Masters at the quarter-final stage today, losing 6-1 to Graeme Dott.

Trump, on whom fans of the game have rested their hopes following the self-imposed absence of favourite Ronnie O’Sullivan, missed balls for fun in an uncharacteristically poor performance.

The Bristol man has not looked himself since winning the International Championship in China last autumn – he was knocked out of the UK Championship in the first round – but it is hard to recall a poorer performance from him since he rose to prominence at the 2011 World Championship.

That it took Dott until the final frame to post a break of substance – a fine 111 – showed how the scrappy an affair it was, with the Scot benefiting from taking his chances, something Trump failed to do.

Time and again he left routine balls in the jaws of the pocket. Often he missed by inches and berated himself as he walked back to his seat.

“It’s weird, you expect Judd to play well and sometimes, if someone doesn’t play well, it puts you off,” Dott told BBC2.

“He really struggled from the first frame. I’ve not had any form for the last four or five months and even today I felt I missed a lot of bad shots. It was going to be hard for Judd to live up how he had been playing.”

Until Dott’s century it was an attritional affair, with him taking a 2-0 lead with moderate contributions, with his long potting the difference.

Trump got back to 2-1 despite a rash of misses in the third but that would be his last success. Dott ran away with it after that, taking the fourth after Trump missed a simple red, swiping at the air as he did so.

A 54 from Dott took it to 5-1 and, with the game almost locked up, he produced his hundred to get over the line.

Trump conceded his performance had been below par, but was quick to move on from the disappointment.

“By the time I’ve got home, I will have already forgotten about it,” he said.

“I couldn’t get going. It wasn’t there today. I tried my best out there but it didn’t happen. It’s the worst I’ve felt and played since breaking through.”